Driving Destinations in China: Five Color Bay
Today, we introduce a self-driving tour destination – Five Color Bay in Xinjiang. Five Color Bay is located in Jiukesaer County, Changji Hui Autonomous Region, north of Xinjiang's capital, Urumqi, approximately 200 kilometers to the northeast. It is a rare and colorful world amidst the vast desert of Xinjiang, renowned for its bizarre, mysterious, and magnificent beauty, filled with enchanting colors.
Five Color Bay is situated in the southeast of the Qoizhentan Basin, historically a paleo-lake basin. Due to the cyclical changes in climate – cold, hot, dry, and wet – combined with tectonic movements, various colorful lacustrine rock layers were deposited here, gradually forming Five Color Bay's wonder of the world.
The formation of Five Color Bay is a magnificent display of nature. Geological movement created extremely thick coal layers here, followed by countless eras of transformation, where sand and stone exposed by wind and rain were eroded, revealing the coal layers. Under the influence of lightning and sunlight, these exposed coal layers underwent violent combustion, and after millions of years of wind, rain, and waves, this unique landscape was formed. Due to the accumulation of burnt rock and the different mineral content from various geological periods, the continuous hills in this area present a color palette dominated by ochre red, interspersed with yellow, white, black, and green.
Five Color Bay is also known as Five Color City, characterized by spectacular, pot-like formations. Five Color City covers an area of approximately three square kilometers, composed of numerous low hills formed by vividly colored mudstone layers in shades of deep red, yellow-green, grayish-blue, gray-green, gray-black, and gray-white. This year's wind and rain have split these hills into individual, flat, colored ridges, creating isolated small hills, with the height difference generally ranging from 10 to 40 meters, resembling golden pyramids. Some hills are connected into ridges, but the slopes are full of channels and grooves, resembling fortresses and palaces, creating a dazzling and breathtaking spectacle.
Five Color Bay exhibits different scenery throughout the day, changing with the changing sunlight, full of poetry and painting. In the morning, as the rising sun, mist hangs over the valleys, and the sun-lit colored hills appear more delicate and vibrant. At noon, the sunlight in the Qoizhentan Basin is intense, and the colorful ridges seem to be burning with fierce heat. In the evening, the sunlight softens, and the color tone turns golden. Under the reflection of the setting sun, Five Color Bay presents a gentle beauty, with all colors harmoniously combined, making you feel as if you have stepped into a painting – a masterpiece created by nature's artistic brushwork, a work of abstract art.
The main attractions of Five Color Bay Scenic Area include Five Color City, Fire Burn Mountain, Painting Stone Valley, and an oilfield base. Five Color Bay has abundant oil geological reserves, and a new oil city is currently under construction. Amidst the strange and wonderful geological features, experiencing the fiery scene of the oilfield base is something rarely seen elsewhere. A high-speed highway runs from Urumqi to Five Color Bay, offering a great self-driving tour destination in Xinjiang.
